Waiting to Explode

“Waiting to Explode” shows the need for aid to innocent victims of war. This documentary shows the rehabilitation of two of the many victims wounded by cluster bombs that failed to explode when dropped over fifty years ago. These bombs are remnants of the so- called “Secret War” waged by the United States but unknown to American civilians during the Vietnam war. Of more than 270 million antipersonnel bombs dropped on neutral Laos, about 30% failed to detonate, leaving 80 million cluster bombs left in fields and streams, schoolyards, and villages.The film follows two victims of accidental explosions. Mr. Lee, a double amputee, who achieved self-sufficiency after humanitarians established a mini-mart he now operates in his rural village. Two-year-old KaYing Yang, blinded by an exploding bomb, received multiple facial and eye surgeries donated by medical specialists in Bangkok, enabling him to attend a school for the blind without excruciating pain. Their stories exemplify the urgency of aiding victims and hastening removal of the unexploded ordnance that still remain hidden in fields and villages in Laos, waiting to explode.